The Supreme Court has issued a written order concerning the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams fund case, instructing that the collected funds be transferred to the federal government's public account.
The order follows an October 9 decision, where the federal government requested the release of funds to the federation and the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA).
According to the Supreme Court's ruling, the money in the dams fund should be moved to the public account of the federal government, and the account established for the dams fund should be closed. The court also directed the opening of a subaccount within the government’s public account specifically for the transfer.
Additionally, the court instructed the government to ensure that the funds earn markup from private banks to maximize the amount available for future dam construction.
The Supreme Court clarified that the funds could be accessed from the designated government account whenever needed for constructing the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams. The directives also led to the disposal of all petitions associated with the dams fund case.
On October 9, the court had sought recommendations from WAPDA, the auditor general, and the attorney general for Pakistan on how to properly utilize the dams fund. During the hearing, it was confirmed that a thorough investigation found no evidence of misappropriation.
A three-member bench, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, heard the case and was informed that the dams fund held over Rs23 billion, consisting of Rs11 billion in principal and over Rs12 billion in markup. The chief justice asked if the funds could be placed in private banks to generate additional markup.
The State Bank of Pakistan's legal advisor informed the court that the funds are managed by the government, and any allocations for WAPDA must be processed through the public account.
The federal government had initially requested the Supreme Court on September 11 to release the funds to the federation and WAPDA.
Additional Attorney General Aamir Rehman stated that a separate petition had been filed to transfer the funds, which were originally collected through a 2018 campaign launched by the Supreme Court and managed by the State Bank of Pakistan.
Chief Justice Isa inquired about the total amount in the dams fund, to which WAPDA's lawyer, Saad Rasool, responded that it was approximately Rs20 billion. During the hearing, the chief justice asked about the origins of the case.
WAPDA's lawyer explained that the Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice in 2018 during proceedings related to WAPDA projects, leading to the creation of a Dams Funds Implementation Bench that met 17 times to oversee the use and allocation of the funds.
